PICTURES: Allentown Diocese Bishop John O. Barres

Harry Fisher / THE MORNING CALL

Bishop John O. Barres performs consecration during Ash Wednesday Mass at St. Catharine Cathedral of Siena in Allentown on February 18, 2015. Ash Wednesday marks the beginning of the six-week penitential season of Lent. Lents leads to the greatest feast of the Catholic Church, Easter, which this year is Sunday, April 5. On Ash Wednesday Catholics receive ashes on their forehead in the sign of the cross, the sign of baptism, to remind them that Lent is a time of baptismal renewal. These ashes are often made from burnt palms left over from the palms distributed on Palm Sunday the year before.

Bishop John O. Barres performs consecration during Ash Wednesday Mass at St. Catharine Cathedral of Siena in Allentown on February 18, 2015. Ash Wednesday marks the beginning of the six-week penitential season of Lent. Lents leads to the greatest feast of the Catholic Church, Easter, which this year is Sunday, April 5. On Ash Wednesday Catholics receive ashes on their forehead in the sign of the cross, the sign of baptism, to remind them that Lent is a time of baptismal renewal. These ashes are often made from burnt palms left over from the palms distributed on Palm Sunday the year before.